Always keep your eye on the road – bear or no bear. That’s the lesson I learned.
Another rider and I met up at the Starbucks in Moorpark a little after 9am. The weather was perfect and we headed out to Ojai for a run up the 33.
A quick stop at the service station in Ojai. We met a couple of other riders who were heading up the same route this day.
Despite the rain that came through last week the roads were pretty clean and I snapped a few moving pics
About 35 miles north of Ojai on the 33 we pulled off and snapped a few photos
From here I took over the lead and we rode through some nice twisties on a downgrade. Rounding a left hand turn I see a large brown bear running across the road in front of me. The bear was quickly off the road and into the woods. Passing the point where the bear left the road I looked back to take another look. That’s when I felt the bike riding on gravel. Looking ahead now I see that I’m too far to the right. Loose rocks and gravel from a sheer wall to the right were near the road side and I had wandered into it. The bike was now heading toward some large rocks ahead.
The offending rocks:
I hit the brakes and tried to get the bike back onto the road but it was too late. The ABS kicked in and since there was nothing for the wheels to grab onto the bike just kept going. Not able to get the bike back onto tarmac I hit the large rocks and bike came to stop on its right side. I on the other hand kept on going and faceplanted into the rocks ahead. The helmet (Scorpion exo-400), jacket (Tourmaster Transition Series 2), and gloves (Alpinestars) did their job and I was fine. The bike is leaking oil from a puncture in the right valve cover. We get the bike up and to a pullout down the road and I call BMW roadside service for a tow – thanks to Steven’s working cell phone (more bars in more places!).
Some pics of the damage.
Waiting for the tow truck driver, Steven went to get some sandwiches from “The Place”. About 2 hours later the tow arrives and the bike is loaded. Excellent tie down job.
Steven and I say bye and I’m off to the dealer to get the bike fixed.
I had no photos of the bear so here is an artist’s rendering of what happened:
Mike…
Glad you're ok and still smiling! I guess you have a real reason to smile however...surviving a faceplant and all!
